


If We Hold On Together

by Anima_princess_1



Series: The Dragon Prince Collection [3]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Modern
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-06-27 15:27:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19793728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anima_princess_1/pseuds/Anima_princess_1
Summary: It's never easy being the new kid. But for Rayla Xadia it's even harder. Not only is she the new girl in town and school but she's also new to the country. Raised in Scotland, she moved to America with her legal guardians Runaan and Lujanne after the death of her parents. But things start to look up when she makes a new friend in a boy named Callum Katolis. An outcast like her, Callum is a target for the bullies as well, especially with his only two friends, Sorran and Claudia, having graduated and gone off to college. But is there more than friendship between these two outcasts?





	1. Chapter 1

Rayla hated her new school uniform. The only thing remotely nice about it was that the pelted skirt was the same as her clan's tartan. Other than that it was horrible. She didn't see why she had to attend St. Lawrence Catholic School any way. There was another high school (Henry Ford II) which was much closer to her house. Also it was a public school so not only would she not have to wear a uniform but her guardians wouldn't have to pay tuition.  
But Runaan and Lujanne told her when they registered her for the start of the winter semester that they had promised her parents that they would make sure she received the best education they could provide for her. It was one of the reasons that they had moved from Scotland to America. There were far more opportunities for them in America. Not only would Rayla have more choices for her life but Lujanne would be able to further her career as a doctor and Runaan would be able to get a better job as a historian. He was already teaching history at the local community college and had a line on a job at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village.  
"Your new uniform looks so pretty on you," Lujanne said as Rayla sat down at the table.  
"Do I have to go?" Rayla asked for what seemed like the thousandth time.  
"We've been over this, Rayla," Runaan said. "You belong in school."  
Rayla slumped down in her chair. She really didn't want to go to school, at least not her new one. She wanted to go to her old school back in Scotland where all her friends were. Talking to them via Skype, Facebook, and Twitter wasn't the same as talking to them before school, in between classes, during lunch, and after school.  
"What's wrong, Rayla?" Lujanne asked as she set a plate in front of her.  
"I just miss my old friends," Rayla said.  
"I know this move has been hard on you. But you'll still be able to keep in touch with them through social media and you have the chance to make new friends."  
Rayla gave Lujanne a small smile. She knew that she was trying to make her feel better.  
"That's my girl. Eat you breakfast and I'll take you to school."  
Rayla started eating her eggs, bacon, hash browns, and toast. Lujanne believed in a good breakfast to start the day (especially a busy day like the one ahead) so Rayla rarely got cereal or oatmeal for breakfast unless it was the weekend. After eating everything on her plate and drinking her orange juice, Rayla brushed her teeth before going back to her room to finish getting ready.  
After checking to make sure she had all her notebooks, folders, and other school supplies in her backpack, she put some lip gloss on before putting the small snack bag of cake flavored Lip Smackers in her backpack to put in her locker at school. Before leaving, she shoved a copy of The Warrior of Clan Kincaid into her bag to read during lunch and before class.  
"Hurry up, Rayla," Lujanne said as the girl put on her shoes and winter coat. "You don't want to be late on your first day."  
☆☆☆  
Rayla got out of the car to join the stream of kids entering the school.  
"Do you want me to go in with you?" Lujanne asked.  
"I'm not a baby," Rayla said. "Besides, I'm going to stick out enough as it is."  
"Alright. You have your lunch money, right?"  
Rayla nodded. She had put it in her pencil case for safe keeping the night before.  
"I'll pick you up after school," Lujanne said. "Either wait here or inside by the office."  
"I will," Rayla said as she joined the other kids entering the school.  
As she entered the school portion of the building, a boy her age with brown hair and green eyes came up to her.  
"Hi," he said. "You just moved into Stonegate, right?"  
Rayla nodded not wanting to encourage any further conversation. She put her coat and backpack in her locker and took her pencil case, book, and a folder and notebook out of her backpack. The boy opened the locker next to hers.  
"I live there, too. Do you maybe want to come over after school and hang out?"  
"Mr. Katolis," a teacher said. "Shouldn't you be getting to class?"  
"Okay." He looked back at Rayla as he closed his locker. "I'll see you around?"  
Without waiting for a response, the boy went down the hall towards his first class. Rayla closed her locker and made her way to the office to get her class schedule.  
☆☆☆  
The classroom buzzed with chatter as the students waited for their teacher to start class. Callum just sat at his desk at the front of the room drawing in one of his notebooks, one he used for sketching. Suddenly the teacher called the class to order. As his classmate took their seats, Callum put his drawing notebook under his text book and opened his notebook labeled "English Class". Just as the teacher was about to start her lesson, the door opened and the vice principal entered the class room followed by a girl with white, blond hair and violet eyes, the girl Callum had seen at his locker.  
"Sorry to interrupt," the vice principal said to the teacher. "Class, we have a new student joining you. Her name is Rayla Xadia and she just moved here from Scotland. The principal and I want you to make her feel welcome."  
"Welcome to English Class," the teacher said after the vice principal left. "I'm Miss Alright. I hope you like writing because we do a lot of essays, book report, and short stories in this class. You can take your seat now."  
Rayla took the only seat available, the one right next to Callum.  
"Okay, everyone else pass up the book reports you were to write over vacation."  
The class groaned as folders were opened and reports were taken out. Callum turned to look at the new girl.  
"Hi again," he said waiting for the reports to make their way to the front of the row. "Don't worry. Miss Albright is really nice."  
"Alright class," Miss Albright said once all the book reports were turned in. "I should have these back to you by the end of the week. Now please open your books to page 80. Mr. Katolis, could you please get a text book for Miss Xadia?"  
☆☆☆  
Rayla set her tray down at the only vacant table in the lunch room. It had been a busy morning. After English class she had math with a Mr. Rune followed by geography with a Mrs. Banderlodge. She also already had a lot of homework to do already. In addition to reading an essay in her English text and answering the corresponding questions, she also had to choose a book to read for the next book report that was due by the end of January and think of a topic for an essay she had to write on an animal of her choice for Miss Albright. Mr. Rune had assigned problems one through fifty in chapter 10 of their math text books (odds only to keep people from looking up the answers) and Mrs. Banderlodge had assigned the class to read the first chapter in the section of their text book on Africa and answer the review questions at the end as well as pick a country in Africa to write a report on.  
"Hi," said the brown hair boy Callum who had been in all three of her morning classes. "Is that good?" he gestured towards The Warrior of Clan Kincaid.  
"Depends on how you feel about historical romance books," Rayla answered.  
"My mom reads romance books," Callum said as he set his tray down and took a set across from Rayla. "They're mostly paranormal romances though. You know Alpha and Omega, Kate Daniels, Mercy Thompson, Kitty Norville, Crimson Moon, Otherworld."  
Rayla looked up, interested.  
"I love paranormal romances," she said.  
"You do?"  
"I like all kinds of romance books as long as they aren't smutty."  
"What other kinds of books do you like?"  
"Adventure and mystery mostly."  
Callum took a bite of his lunch before asking her another question.  
"I saw that your folders and notebooks were all Avengers," he said. "Do you like them?"  
"Only a lot."  
"Have you seen all the movies?"  
"All except Infinity Wars, Spider-Man Homecoming, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Ant-Man and Wasp, and Thor: Ragnarok. I'm also a big Star Wars and How to Train You Dragon fan."  
The two continued to talk while they had lunch. When the bell rang, they gathered up their trays and trash along with the other students.  
"What class do you have next?" Callum asked as they left the cafeteria.  
Rayla looked at her schedual.  
"History with a Mrs. Rayas," she said.  
"So do I. I'll walk you."  
☆☆☆  
When they bell rang to dismiss school, Rayla hurried to her locker. While she had gotten most of it done during last hour study hall, she still had a lot of homework to do. In addition to what was left over from her morning classes, she had to start reading chapter 8 in her history text book and answer the discuss questions at the end of the chapter as well as think of a topic for a history report that Mrs. Rayas had assigned for history class and read a case file in her science text book and answer the related questions as well as start reading the chapter on marine biology.  
Lujanne was waiting for her right in front of the school with the other moms waiting to pick up their kids. Rayla opened the door and got in with a big smile on her face.  
"You won't believe what happened at school today," she said as soon as the car door closed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> January passed into February and Rayla and Callum's friendship grew. They were in all the same classes so it wasn't unusual to see them together working on a school project. Rayla had also become friends with Callum's younger half-brother Ezren.  
> Everyday Callum and Ezren's father Harrow would drive the three of them to school and every afternoon Lujanne would pick them up. Callum and Ezren would then spend a few hours at Rayla's house until their mom Sarai came home. In fact both families had become so close that Callum, Ezran, Sarai, and Harrow had a standing invitation to Sunday dinner with Rayla, Runaan, and Lujanne every week.

January passed into February and Rayla and Callum's friendship grew. They were in all the same classes so it wasn't unusual to see them together working on a school project. Rayla had also become friends with Callum's younger half-brother Ezren.  
Everyday Callum and Ezren's father Harrow would drive the three of them to school and every afternoon Lujanne would pick them up. Callum and Ezren would then spend a few hours at Rayla's house until their mom Sarai came home. In fact both families had become so close that Callum, Ezran, Sarai, and Harrow had a standing invitation to Sunday dinner with Rayla, Runaan, and Lujanne every week.

☆☆☆

It was a cold morning in mid February; so cold that school had been canceled for the fourth day in a row. So it wasn't surprising when Lujanne answered the door bell for Callum and Ezren to rush right by her into the condo.  
"Hi, Mrs. Xadia," the brothers called without looking back.  
"Hello, boys," she said.  
"Thanks for letting them stay here for the day, Lujanne," Harrow said. "Again."  
"It's not a problem," Lujanne said. "They're both very well behaved and Rayla loves having them over."  
"Sarai will pick them up this afternoon. Thanks again."  
After closing the door, Lujanne went into the living room. All three kids were on the couch watching Relic Hunter on Prime Video. Or rather, Rayla and Callum were watching Relic Hunter. Ezren was far more interested in Lujanne's pet budgie Phoe-Phoe. Callum and Ezren's coats, boots, hats, and gloves laid on the floor where they had tossed them.  
"Okay," Lujanne said. "You two hang up your coats and put your boots away. And you, young lady, go make your bed like I told you to."  
Pausing Relic Hunter, the three did as they were told. Once they had hung up their coats (stuffing their hats and gloves in their coat pockets) and put their boots next to the front closet, Callum and Ezren made their way down the hall to Rayla's room. She had just finished pulling up her sheets, fleece blanket, and blue and black Marianne embroidered comforter and was arranging her pillows (and the accent pillows that went with the comforter set) on her bed along with a stuffed red dream-eyes dragon and a stuffed Sylveon. Practically every shelf and bookcase in her room was filled with DVDs and mostly books and five books (A New Dawn, Magic Bleeds, The Cat Who Went Bananas, Pegasus and the Origins of Olympus, and The Enchantress Returns) were sitting on the nightstand next to her bed, all in various stages of being finished.  
"Mind if we keep these in here?" Callum asked holding up his and Ezren's bookbags.  
"You can put them there," Rayla said pointing to her purple corner computer desk.  
Her own bookbag was on the bottom shelf leaning up against her printer/copier/scanner and her laptop was on the pullout keyboard shelf. Callum put his and Ezren's bookbags next to Rayla's. Their mother had insisted that they bring their school work with them to Rayla's house even though Callum had finished all his homework and, being in elementary school, Ezren rarely got any.  
"Did you boys have breakfast?" Lujanne asked when the kids came back into the family room and put their show back on.  
"I had a bagel with peanut butter and jelly and Callum had one with cream cheese," Ezren said not taking his eyes off of Phoe-Phoe.  
"That's not breakfast," Lujanne said. "I'll make you some eggs and bacon."  
Once breakfast was ready, Lujanne called the three friends into the kitchen. The kids took a seat at the rustic dining nook table. The kitchen had an old farm house kitchen feel to it.  
"Thank you for breakfast, Mrs. Xadia," Callum said.  
"You're welcome, Callum," Lujanne said. "Don't feed your bacon to the dog, Ezren."  
Zym, Rayla's West Highland White Terrier puppy, wagged his tail as he tried to grab the bacon out of Ezren's hand. Zym had been a Christmas present for Rayla from her aunt and uncle in the hope that he would not only help her make some new friends but also take her mind off of everything that had happened.  
"Come, Zym," Rayla said getting up from the table.  
The puppy followed her out of the kitchen.  
"Sit, Zym."  
The puppy obediently sat down in the doorway.  
"Good boy. Stay."  
"Can you teach Bait to be that obedient?" Ezren asked as Rayla sat back down at the table to finish her breakfast.  
"Ez, Bait's a cat," Callum said.  
"May we please play on the Xbox, Aunt Lujanne?" Rayla asked once breakfast was done.  
"Clear your places first," Lujanne said.  
Rayla, Callum, and Ezran picked up their plates, silverware, and glasses and put them in the dishwasher.  
"If you need anything, I'll be right here studying for my tests," Lujanne said as the kids and Zym headed for the basement where they Xbox and Kinect was.  
Not only did Lujanne have a test coming up to get her license to practice medicine but she and Runaan both also had a citizenship test coming up so they could become US citizens. Rayla, however, wouldn't have to take a test since she was already a citizen. While she was raised in Scotland, she had been born in America and had duel citizenship.  
Rayla's parents were both in America on student Visas to attend college (engineering for her father and business for her mother) when they had met and fell in love. The summer before their senior year, they had gotten married and Rayla was born just a few days after they had graduated.  
It was almost lunch time when Lujanne when to check on the kids. They had lost interest in the video games and were now in the middle of a game of Monopoly.  
"So I was thinking," Lujanne said. "How about we have Taco Bell for lunch?"  
"Yeah!" all three kids shouted at once as they abandoned their game.  
"Go put your coats and boots on and get in the car then," Lujanne said as the kids ran up the stairs followed closely by Zym. "And, Rayla, put Zym in his kennel."  
"Does he have to go in his kennel?" Rayla asked.  
"You know he does," Lujanne said. "If no one is here to watch him, he has to be in his kennel."  
"But he hates his kennel. Can he come with us?"  
"No he can't. We won't be gone long."  
"Sorry, boy," Rayla said as she put Zym in his kennel.  
The little puppy looked at her with big eyes. He knew that sometimes worked to get out of the kennel.  
"He'll be alright," Lujanne said. "He spends all night in his kennel and most of the day."  
The kids put on their coats and boots and got into the car while Lujanne locked the doors. Rather than park the car, they opted for the drive through.  
"What do you guys want?" Lujanne asked.  
"The Nacho Bell Granda meal," Rayla said. "But I want my taco to be soft shelled."  
"I'll have the same," Callum said.  
"I want the Quesada meal," Ezren said.  
"What to drink?"  
"Pepsi," the brothers said.  
"Cherry Pepsi," said Rayal.  
"Can I take your order?" the drive threw attendant asked.  
"Can I get two number 5s with soft shelled tacos, a number 8, an extra taco, a cherry Pepsi, two regular Pepsis, and a diet Pepsi?" Lujanne said.  
"Would you like the three taco meal? The drink is included and you get two extra tacos?"  
"That's fine."  
The attendant gave her the total and told her to drive up to the second window. After paying, she handed the bag and drink holder to Rayla and told the kids they had to wait until they got home. Once they got back to the condo, Rayla let Zym out of his kennel before hanging her coat up. The puppy followed her from the kitchen to the front closet and back to the kitchen.  
"Stay, Zym," Rayla told him before he entered the kitchen.  
The puppy sat down in the doorway while Rayla to a seat at the kitchen table. After lunch, the kids took their pop back down to the basement with Zym to finish their game. About an hour later, they came back upstairs to watch some TV. At 4:30, the doorbell rang.  
"Sarai," Lujanne said when she answered the door. "Come in. Boys, go get your things. Your mom's here."  
Callum and Ezren ran off to Rayla's room to get their bookbags while Rayla came into the room with a container.  
"We made some cookies this afternoon," she said. "This is Callum and Ezren's share."  
"Thank you," Sarai said taking the cookie tin.  
"Will we be seeing your family for Sunday dinner?" Lujanne asked. "I'm making a roast."  
"Of course. We'd never miss Sunday dinner with your family."

Three days later...

It was a typical Sunday. After attending 8 o'clock mass at St. Lawrence, both families had gone to breakfast at The Savory. Once returning home, the kids had taken Zym for a walk in the nearby park and Lujanne and Sarai knew that they would be gone for a while since they would more than likely stop at the play structure to play. However, Lujanne and Sarai had told them to be back in time for dinner. While Harrow and Runaan watched the game, Sarai and Lujanne went grocery shopping. They wanted to pick up somethings to go with dinner as well as do a week's worth of grocery shopping and it was much easier without three kids putting extra treats in the carts.  
Rayla laughed as she slid down the slide, Zym held tightly in her arms. She loved playing at the park with her two friends. But it was getting cold and they would have to head back soon. Besides it was getting close to lunch time and, even though she had a big breakfast at The Savory, Rayla was starting to get hungry and figured Callum and Ezren were as well. They had burned up a lot of energy walking Zym and playing.  
"Ready to get Ezren and head home?" Callum asked noticing how red Rayla's cheeks were getting from the cold.  
Rayla nodded. They didn't have a long walk home but it was cold and getting colder. Though she did have to admit that she had fun. Before January, she hadn't spent a Sunday playing at a park with her friends in years. Back in Scotland, she and her friends would have spent Sunday at the mall. Once getting back to Stonegate, the friends made their way to Rayla's house. After they hung up their coats, Rayla put three French bread pizzas in the toaster oven. With the game still on, the friends took their lunch downstairs and watched Fly Away Home.

☆☆☆

"Who'd like to say grace?" Runaan asked once everyone was seated at the table.  
"I think it's Ezren's turn," Rayla said.  
Seated between his parents, the eleven-year-old felt everyone's attention on him but he didn't mind. Unlike his older, half-brother, Ezren liked being the center of attention.  
"Thank you for this food," he said. "And for the four days off from school."  
"Ezren," Sarai said.  
"What? I liked having the time off."  
"So what's on the agenda for school next week?" Lujanne asked, changing the subject ever so slightly.  
"We're going to start reading Where the Red Fern Grows in English class," Callum said. "Then we have to write a report on it."  
"I read that book when I was in school," Harrow said.  
"So did I," said Sarai. "It's very good. Sad; but good."  
"Why is it sad?" Rayla asked.  
"You'll find out when you read the book. I wouldn't want to spoil it for you two."

Two weeks later...

It was a typical Friday lunch hour. Callum and Rayla sat at their favorite table talking while they had lunch. Because neither of them really liked the fish sticks that the school served during lent, they had both brought lunch from home and had laughed at how similar they were since they had both brought a Chef Boy-A-Dee Macaroni and Cheese microwave cup, a small garden salad with tuna fish, a bottle of fruit punch, and a Smucker's crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The only difference was the jelly in their sandwiches (Rayla had strawberry while Callum had grape).  
"Captain Marvel came out today," Callum said. "Do you want to go see it tomorrow at Partridge Creek?"  
Rayla nearly choked on her juice. Had Callum just asked her out on a date? She did like him but she wasn't ready to take their relationship to the next level just yet. She liked that they were friends.  
"My mom or step-dad can drive us," Callum continued. "I'll buy the tickets if you want to buy the snacks and then the next time we go to the movies we can switch."  
Rayla let out a sigh of relief. Callum wasn't asking her on a date; he was asking her to the movies as a friend.  
"That sounds like fun," she said. "My aunt or uncle can pick us up afterwards."  
"Just don't say anything to Ez. He'll want to come with us and Mom doesn't want him watching the Marvel movies because he's too young."  
Rayla couldn't help but look forward to the weekend. She was going to the movies on Saturday with her best friend and the next day their families would be having Sunday dinner together. If she had known how things were going to turn out, she never would have made such a fuss about moving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's the second chapter. Sorry it took so long. I hope you all like how I worked Zym, Bait, and Phoe-Phoe into the story (I'm open to suggestions on what kind of cat Bait should be). Hopefully I'll be able to introduce Anya, Ellis, Ava, Viren, and Aaravos in the next chapter. (I'm planning on making Aaravos a dog in this story; I'm thinking a Doberman or a Rottweiler but once again am open to suggestions.)


End file.
